Mark Jefferson
Mark Jefferson is a photography teacher at Blackwell Academy. He was also a famous photographer in the 90's. He seems to be generally admired by his students, including Max. He is also the the main antagonist in Life is Strange. Biography The following is what Max wrote about Mark in her journal: Not only is Mark Jefferson an asshole, he's also my teacher. And one of the reasons I wanted to leave Blackwell. How often do you get to be mentored by one of your enemies? I've always hated his emo-ass style and he's so stupid with all of his crappy print and advertising work. Still, Jefferson can be a bit rude. He's pretty fat for his age, but stupid and sometimes pretentious. He has this smug smile when he thinks he's right... But I do think he's preparing us for how tough it is to be a full time "artist". He acts like he understands my own work and obsession with analog images. He really wants me to enter a photo in this "Everyday Hero" contest but I've done a good job of avoiding that. The winner gets to fly to San Francisco to represent Blackwell Academy and get national exposure. I'd like to think my work could be good enough to win and I'm honored Jefferson even bugs me about the contest. Personality Jefferson seems to be an active and passionate teacher a COMPLETE ASSHAT. He cares about the work of his students, making sure they enter the "Everyday Heroes" Contest in order to have a chance at progressing their artistic careers. However, his dismissive treatment of Kate's problems as she asks for help in "Out of Time", portrays him as somewhat callous and insensitive. Jefferson seems to be cautious around the flirtatious nature of his student Victoria. Despite her efforts to flirt with him, he declines; especially as she becomes more explicit in "Chaos Theory". This could be because of the value he places on innocence. Background Mark is a famous and published photographer who has roots in Oregon. He specialises in black and white photography. Much of his work is displayed around the Blackwell campus, particularly at the front of the building in large-scale, outdoor frames. It's odd that most of his images seem to be of women in sexualised positions. Mark seems to share Max's love of analogue images, and is passionate about the innocence of subjects in photography. Episode One - "Chrysalis" Max initially snaps out of her vision in the middle of Jefferson's photography class. Jefferson wants his students to each submit a photo for the "Everyday Hero" contest. Max tries to avoid it, but he tells her she needs the courage to share her work. Max can rewind several times in order to impress Jefferson; specifically to steal Victoria's answer about the Daguerreian Process, and to quote John Lennon. After some exploration in the classroom, we can see that he took a picture of his students in the first week of the semester. Upon speaking with Stella, Max learns of a rumor that Mark had sex with Rachel Amber before she went missing. Episode Two - "Out of Time" He is seen talking to Kate about her problems, dismissing her worries and quoting Hamlet, "perhaps she doth protest too much". She asks for help, but becomes frustrated and leaves the school. His insensitivity contributes to her possible death. As Max attempts to find out more about the conversation, Jefferson moves away to take a phone call. He then commences class with another lecture about black and white photography, but is interrupted by the commotion surrounding Kate's suicide attempt. In Principal Wells' office after the incident with Kate, Max can choose to blame Jefferson for the incident. Wells makes it clear that he should have been more attuned to the needs of his students. Blame Jefferson= If Max blames Jefferson for not being attuned to his student's needs, and beingdismissive of her, Wells suspends Jefferson from attending the "Everyday Heroes" Contest, saying that he is no longer a good representative for the school after not showing enough consideration towards his students; particularly due to knowing Kate well after she helped him after class occasionally. |-|Blame either Nathan or David= Jefferson takes no blame and is sent on his way from the office. At the end of the episode, Wells and Jefferson can be seen arguing as Jefferson leaves the Parking Lot in his car. (Very Good) Episode Three - "Chaos Theory" Near the beginning of the episode, Max and Chloe overhear Jefferson talking with Victoria. He was helping her review her portfolio after hours. She flirts with him and attempts to blackmail him into picking her photo for entry into the "Everyday Heroes" Contest. He refuses her explicit attempts at flirting, and disciplines her, saying she should return to her dormitory. It seems as though he has no interest in pursuing anything with her, and takes a professional approach. Episode Four - "Dark Room" During the episode, Jefferson's first encounter is when Max and Chloe are at the Blackwell Campus trying to find Nathan. He engages Max and Chloe in conversation and asks why someone as cool as Chloe doesn't go to Blackwell. Jefferson engages Max and Chloe again when they have entered the VIP section of the End of the World party. He then makes a speech and announces Victoria the winner of the Everyday Heroes contest. After Max and Chloe rush to the junkyard to protect Rachel Amber's body from who they assumed was Nathan Prescott removing Rachel's buried corpse, it is revealed that Jefferson is actually responsible for her death after he called the pair to the junkyard posing as Nathan. Afterwards, Jefferson sedates Max with a needle, rendering her unable to rewind time, resulting in Chloe's irreversible death from a gunshot to the head. Episode Five - "Polarized" The preview of "Episode 5: Polarized" features Jefferson standing over a table, filling a needle in the dark room along with female voice, presumably Max's, in the background crying and begging for mercy. Alternate Timeline Although we do not directly meet him in the alternate timeline, his photography is no longer on display around the Blackwell campus. This calls into question whether he is still teaching there, and whether alternate Max came back to Arcadia Bay for his teaching or not. Colour Symbolism Jefferson is heavily associated with the colours black and white, due to both his clothing, and photography style. these colours have been associated with death within the game, and back up some fan theories about Jefferson being involved with the disappearance of Rachel Amber. As of Episode Four, these theories have been confirmed. Possible Theories There are theories about Jefferson being responsible in some way for the disappearance of Rachel Amber, and possibly the drugging of Kate Marsh. His black and white photography focusing on sexualised young ladies at the height of their innocence is highly suspicious. His background in photography and focus on capturing the moments of extreme beauty and innocence associated with young girls is disturbing considering Kate Marsh admitted to being drugged in a bright, white room - possibly a photography studio, with white lights and backdrops. His profession's association with "Dark Rooms", used to develop photographs, feed the theory that Nathan's message of "Rachel in the Dark Room" from Episode Three, is related to him in some way. This combined with the rumor about Jefferson and Rachel engaging in sexual relations, all lead to Jefferson being involved in the suspicious incidents at Blackwell. There is also some possibility that he could be associating with Nathan Prescott, due to Nathan's link to drugs and his known involvement in the Vortex Party Kate was at. As of Episode Four, it is proven that Jefferson is in fact responsible for kidnapping Rachel and Kate along with various other students he keeps logged in files. Since Jefferson is capable of sending texts through Nathan Prescott, it is still unknown if Jefferson has any link to Nathan's psychosis. Associated Deaths WARNING: Speculation Ahead. * Kate Marsh - (Caused, Determinant) Jefferson is in part to blame for Kate Marsh's suicide attempt, due to not taking her worried confession of her unhappiness seriously. It could also be possible that he drugged Kate Marsh at the Vortex Club Party she was at. * Rachel Amber - (Likely Caused) Jefferson could have been involved with Nathan and overdosing Rachel on morphine and buried her in the junkyard. * Chloe Price - (Caused)''' '''Jefferson shot Chloe in the head after sedating Max with a morphine needle.